BREAKING NEWS - Council serves Compulsory Purchase Order on derelict Denbigh hospital site

A COMPULSORY Purchase Order (CPO) has been served on the current owners of the former North Wales Hospital site, the derelict Grade II* listed building in Denbigh.

Denbighshire County Council's planning committee voted in favour of the CPO for the site back in September 2013 after the owners Freemont (Denbigh) Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands, failed to comply with a repairs notice served by the Council, which required the owners to carry out significant repairs to the buildings on site.

The CPO has now been served. It requires Freemont (Denbigh) Limited to sell the building to Denbighshire County Council, who will in turn pass the ownership of the site onto the North Wales Building Preservation Trust. The Trust will manage the restoration of the main buildings by progressing enabling development on the associated land, the profit from which will fund the restoration of the most important listed buildings and the demolition of a number of less important buildings. The newly formed Trust is a non-profit making organisation, who will receive support from The Prince's Regeneration Trust.

The owners have a right to appeal against the CPO, which would result in a Public Inquiry to decide whether the ownership should be transferred to the council.

Graham Boase, Denbighshire’s head of planning and public protection, said: “This has been an extremely frustrating process which has been drawn out due to the lack of action from the site owners to carry out urgent works on the property.

“The Council’s main consideration is the preservation of the main historic building on site and we have warned the owners time and time again that we would go down the compulsory purchase route, should we have no other option."